REFLECTING ON HER LIFE AND LEGACY: 25 YEARS ON ADORED PRINCESS LOVING MOTHER INTERNATIONAL ICON The PEOPLE’S PRINCESS DIANA UK: £8.99
EDITOR:
Jack Harrison
THIs EDITION by:
Pauline Hawkins
PAgE AND COvER DEsIgN:
Craig Lamb design_lamb@btinternet.com
PRODUCTION EDITOR:
Dan Sharp
REPROgRAPHICs:
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Jonathan Schofield
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IbsN: 978-1-911276-89-0
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COPyRIgHT:
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DIANA, sTIll A qUEEN IN PEOPlE’s HEARTs
It’s a sobering thought that Prince William, the shy, floppy-haired teenager who walked solemnly and sadly behind his mother’s funeral cortege, is now older than Diana was when she died.
The Princess of Wales was just 36 when her life was cut short by a car accident in Paris in the summer of 1997. Now, almost 25 years on from the devastating event that shocked the world, her elder son is about to celebrate his 40th birthday. Married and with three children of his own, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, has forged his own path while keeping his mother’s values and charitable causes close to his heart.
William’s younger brother Harry, who also cut a poignant figure as he walked alongside his father, brother, uncle and grandfather at the funeral, has also now lived longer than his mother. Both men, though deprived of Diana’s love as they grew into adulthood, were fortunate enough to have a family network around them, including their grandfather Prince Philip, who passed away in April 2021 at the age of 99.
Much water has passed under the bridge since the death of Diana nearly a quarter of a century ago. A reported rift between the brothers was cast aside as together they unveiled a statue to their mother’s memory in the Sunken Garden of Kensington Palace on what would have been her 60th birthdayJuly 1, 2021.
This bookazine, based upon Jack Harrison’s publication Diana: The People’s Princess five years ago, marks 25 years since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales – a woman who wished to be a queen in people’s hearts. Containing a number of new images in addition to hundreds of poignant photographs of the princess, it brings the story of her family and her legacy up to date.
CONTENTS 3 004 INTRODUCTION THE PEOPLE’S PRINCESS 008 CHAPTER 1 HER EARLY YEARS 014 CHAPTER 2 CHARLES AND DIANA 022 CHAPTER 3 THE WEDDING OF THE CENTURY 040 CHAPTER 4 HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS OF WALES 052 CHAPTER 5 A FUTURE KING ARRIVES 058 CHAPTER 6 THE ROYAL FAMILY GROWS 064 CHAPTER 7 T WO PRINCES 068 CHAPTER 8 THE QUEEN OF HEARTS 080 CHAPTER 9 A MOTHER 090 CHAPTER 10 A CHAMPION 100 CHAPTER 11 AN ICON 110 CHAPTER 12 TRAGEDY IN PARIS 112 CHAPTER 13 A NATION MOURNS 120 CHAPTER 14 HER LEGACY No part of this publication may be produced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
Contents
otherwise stated, images are courtesy of PA Images/Alamy
INTRODUCTION DIANA - THE PEOPLE’S PRINCESS 4
Diana, Princess of Wales
1961-1997
“Diana was the very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty. All over the world she was a symbol of selfless humanity. All over the world, a standard bearer for the rights of the truly downtrodden, a very British girl who transcended nationality. Someone with a natural nobility who was classless and who proved that she needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic.”
Earl Spencer
INTRODUCTION 5
Diana’s brother September 6, 1997
Westminster Abbey
The People’s Princess
Lady Diana Spencer grew up as a shy young girl in the quiet English countryside, yet in her 36 years she found a way into the hearts of millions of people from across the globe. As a graceful princess, a devoted mother and a champion of various worthy causes she became and remains one of the most adored and recognised public figures of modern times.
In the days following her untimely and tragic death following a car accident in 1997, millions across Britain and throughout the world found varying ways to pay their respects. A week later, thousands poured into London to line the streets as her coffin made its way to and from an emotionally charged funeral.
It was between these two unforgettable and historic events that British Prime Minister Tony Blair described Diana as the People’s Princess – perfectly symbolising her unique place in history.
IntroductIon Diana - The
6
PeoPle’s Princess
This is her story…
INTRODUCTION 7
Her early years
The People’s Princess was born as the fourth child of John, Viscount Althorp and Frances Spencer on July 1, 1961, at their family home of Park House near Norfolk’s Sandringham estate.
Diana became the couple’s third daughter after Sarah and Jane, but sadly they had suffered unimaginable heartbreak just a year prior to the new arrival when their first son John died shortly after his birth. Desperate for a male heir, the Viscount had been particularly affected by events and the newborn girl was a week old before a name was chosen. On August 30, she was christened at St Mary Magdalene Church near the family’s abode.
The Spencers’ desire for a baby boy continued, and with Diana approaching her third birthday they announced the birth of Charles, who arrived on May 20, 1964. While it seemed as if the perfect family was complete, the strain of losing a child and being so obsessed with having a son and heir had begun to tell on the marriage.
Diana’s parents separated in 1967, and she initially lived with her mother in London. During the early part of 1968, however, Lord Althorp won custody of the children and subsequently moved them to their ancestral seat in Northamptonshire after he succeeded to his father’s title and became Earl Spencer in 1975.
Despite the emotional turmoil, Diana’s was a privileged upbringing and the Spencer family had enjoyed a close relationship with the British monarchy for a number of generations. Both Earl Spencer’s and Lady Althorp’s mothers had served as ladies-in-waiting to the Queen Mother, and Earl Spencer himself had been a royal equerry for both King George VI and a young Queen Elizabeth II.
And the ties didn’t end there; the Queen was among the guests at the Spencers’ Westminster Abbey
wedding in 1954, a highlight of the social calendar that year; Diana’s first home at Park House was leased from Her Majesty; and because the royals often spent holidays at the neighbouring Sandringham House, Diana was close to the Queen’s younger children, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
Education for Diana began under the supervision of her governess, Gertrude Allen, before she attended a private school in Gayton and then a girls-only boarding school near Diss – both in Norfolk. In 1973 she joined her sisters in Kent at the West Heath Girls’ School where she excelled at sport, music and dance; although she struggled academically and actually failed her O levels twice. Her community spirit, something with which she’d become synonymous in later life, also shone through and she received an award for her work.
After one term at a finishing school in Switzerland, Diana returned to London and moved into her mother’s apartment with two school friends. Belying her upper-class roots and education, she pursued a relatively simple life and was determined to earn a portion of her living as she took a series of low-paid jobs as a dance instructor, party hostess and nanny, among others.
Settled in London, Diana’s mother bought her a flat in Earls Court as an 18th birthday present, as her daughter started another new job as a nursery teacher’s assistant at the Young England Kindergarten in Pimlico. Described by her family and friends as shy and unassuming, this comparatively peaceful existence seemed to suit Diana, but it was not to last.
A year later, in the summer of 1980, a friendship with Charles, Prince of Wales – heir to the throne of Great Britain – began to blossom into a romance. Rumours swirled about the relationship and the world’s media set their focus on the 19-year-old love interest of the world’s most eligible bachelor.
Chapter 1
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Diana - The PeoPle’s Princess
From the Spencer family photo album, Diana is pictured with the Shetland pony Soufflé at her mother’s home in Scotland during the summer of 1974.
The young Diana alongside her brother Charles, Viscount Althorp, in the late 1960s.
A three-year-old Diana at Park House in Sandringham.
Diana - The PeoPle’s Princess 10
Diana enjoys a stroll in her pram around the grounds of the Sandringham estate during the summer of 1963.
A picture of Diana as a toddler, taken at her home during 1965.
Shortly after her second birthday, Diana is pictured inside her home at Park House.
Diana plays with her younger brother Charles, Viscount Althorp, in the August heat of 1967 within their family residence in Norfolk.
A game of croquet was among the activities enjoyed by Diana during a holiday to Itchenor, Sussex, in 1970. The small village was home to Peter Shand Kydd, who married Diana’s mother in 1969 and became the future princess’s stepfather.
Chapter 1
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Diana - The PeoPle’s Princess
